A Circle of Fate
by rune101
Summary: Life was like a circle, death being the bridge between the two worlds, and not even death can keep those whose fates are destined to intertwine apart. No matter what life, Kisame will always find a way back. Back to Itachi. In their next lives they are reborn into he modern world of cars and, eventually, high school. Slash; eventual KisaIta, slight KisaKaku.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: The idea came after watching the episode of Kisame's death. And then it hit me like a brick wall. Almost all my favorite characters had been killed off. This fic will be about reincarnation of sorts, and slash, just thought I'd say that for those of you who accidentally wandered in here and are opposed to either.

Summary: Life was like a circle, death being the bridge between the two worlds, and not even death can keep those whose fates are destined to intertwine apart. No matter what life, Kisame will always find a way back. Back to Itachi. (Kisaita, slash, other pairings included).

Disclaimer~ I do not own, nor do I claim to own the characters, settings, names, or franchises depicted herein; they are the property of their rightful copyright holder(s).

* * *

'This is it. It's all over,' the words rang clearly in Kisame's head. He had never been one to give up the fight, but this wasn't giving up. This was defeat. True defeat. He wouldn't let them have anything, that was one of the many things running through his mind. He would not betray the Akatsuki in what would soon be his final hours. He would not betray Itachi...

As Kisame felt Yamato, the wood style chakra user, begin to probe his mind, he bit harshly down onto his tongue. There was no way he would let that happen. Itachi's face came to mind and that was all the strength he needed to overcome his weakness. Even in death, betrayal was not an option. He'd had enough of that already. Done enough of that already.

Callung forth all the strength and might he could muster, Kisame tightened his muscles before putting as much force as possible - and then some, on the wood which immediately started it's protest, the sounds of the ripping sinews of the wood sounding ten times as loud as the Leaf Ninja and friends of that damned Nine-tails stared on in horror.

'We are not animals, we are human. Our existance is worth something.' Itachi's voice echoed in his ears and his visage was filled with his partner's last breaths. The sight of him bloodied and fading.

Kisame smirked and the opposing shinobi stood at the ready, only to balk when Kisame used his own water prison jutsu on himself. A look of knowing passed Kakashi's eyes as his foot pressed forward, ready to stop what he knew the Akatsuki member was ultimately going to do. They needed any information that he had, and he was just as good, if not better a source of intel as the scroll he carried.

Kisame made the handsigns before anyone could react and closed his eyes, thoughts of Itachi once more filling his mind. It was true, those words he had playfully uttered so long ago. He had sold himself to the Akatsuki, just like everyone before and after him. And they were fated to meet their end; that too he knew. All his fallen comrades...he would soon join them. Het he had never thought of them as comrades before, had never pondered the meaning of Itachi's words until now. How funny it was that he would lift the blinders from his eyes that had obscured life's meaning, forcing him to be driven forward only by his blade. Only by Samehada. Only by the thrill of blood and battle and spent chakra.

Too blinded by the falsified blood-thirsty persona he'd created to define himself. "Itachi...you were right. You were always right." those were marked his final words as his sharks drew nearer, their jagged rows pointed to him and his will and resolve finalized.

But even in passing he still had one trick up his sleeve. Those shinobi had another thing coming if they thought they'd be getting that scroll on this day today. Not on Kisame's final breath.

In death Kisame was enveloped in a bright light. It wasn't white, he couldn't describe the color. Something peaceful yet undescribable. Maybe a sky blue? But that couldn't be it. It felt warm and cool at the the same time. And words and moments passed in front of his eyes as if it was happening all over again. But after they passed they slipped away, like the memory had never existed in the first place. Like it was someone else's at first. And then like it was a distant story. But then it was gone. People flashed before his eyes. His fellow villagers, the ones he had slaughtered. Then they faded. Villagers? Mist? Who were they...?

An image - no, a scene of Deidara and Sasori bickering like usual passed. Deidara arguing that true art was a fleeting thing and Sasori countering that it was everlasting. And then they dimmed and Kisame could no longer recall who they were, the part of his memory that the two had once occupied was empty. Unfilled; gone...

It happened faster from there. People and places that he knew flashing before his eyes and then fading, and just like that, they were gone. He was reminded of his toughest victories and then they vanished. His most brutal defeats reared in his mind and they too were gone. And then Itachi.

Kisame screamed. It was the scream of someone who had lost everything; someone who was about to lose everything. But no! Kisame refused to let go of his memory of Itachi as memories slowly played in vibrant color like a cinematic movie.

"I don't want to lose...to lose! To lose you! It...a...chi."

He felt the memories trickle away like blood from an open wound. He couldn't even remember anything else. Couldn't remember his name. What was a name? All he knew consisted of red eyes, jaded with sorrow. Ivory skin. And ebony locks. 'Itachi,' something provided. But even this, his last piece - his last reminder that he existed was slipping away. Like grains of sand in an hourglass.

And the bright comfortable space was slowly fading at the edges. Fading into a dark grey. But even the gray was fading. Fading into a black that threatened to draw ever nearer as the color from...where was this? slipped away.

Now it was gone. Kisame sat still in darkness, the light from his inhumanly colored eyes fading away as his body was enveloped in the darkness. But he wasn't scared. There was no part of him that comprehended the feeling of fear. He was a shell of the man he once was. The Kisame he had been - the one that had been a part of the Akatsuki, the one that had been Itachi's partner, the one that had coldly and cruelly taken lives, the one who had found his rock when it was too late...he was gone. He had long since faded away along with his memories.


	2. Chapter 2

"After life comes death, but one can only speculate what comes after death itself."

* * *

Mister and Misses Hoshigaki had been trying for a baby for years now. They had tried and tried. Every method they could conceivably think of. They'd tried home remedies, they'd tried turning to religious prayer and guidance. They'd tried all the natural fertility pills that they'd ordered online.

The whole time their doctor had told them that Mrs. Hoshigaki had been normal. That she should be able to bear kids. At least that was up until she had gotten sick and was diagnosed with a rare immune deficiency disease. One that would require her to take medication that would increase her immune system, but would likely leave her infertile.

It had taken a lot of convincing on Mr. Hoshigaki's part to get her to take her medicine. At first she had rejected taking it outrightly. She wanted a baby, no matter what. But her husband's words had gotten to her.

"Even if you do manage to get pregnant, who's to say you won't die while carrying or shortly after? Don't you want our future son or daughter to have a mom?"

The words had seemed unbelievably harsh at first, and she had lashed out at her husband for saying them, but the bottom line was they were simply the truth. No matter how hard it may have been to swallow.

So she had started taking her medicine, secretly hating herself more and more with each pill she took. And it had gotten harder and harder to look at herself in the mirror. Eventually she broke down, couldn't take it anymore. And Mr. Hoshigaki had taken her to a therapist that had experience with the situation.

It had been a long process, and they had fought many times. It surely wasn't easy. Many times they threatened to leave each other, but the therapy had been steadily working.

The therapist's soft spoken questions had forced Mrs. Hoshigaki to reflect on why she wanted a child so badly. And the truth hurt; it hurt so badly that she hadn't told her husband until recently. She herself had had a terrible childhood. It was full of things that she could not think about without shaking, and she wanted better for her future child. It was selfish, but truly, she just wanted a child to treat the way she had wished she had been, loved the way she had once longed to have been. But there was always adoption, her therapist had pointed out. And slowly she came to the realization that it was time to let go.

And then there she was, many months later, after she had accepted not being able to have a child and seriously pondered adoption. Their life had slowly shifted back to normality and she had taken her medicine routinely, it had just become another normality.

But the morning sickness wasn't. And neither was the strange cravings.

Nor was she expecting the word "pregnant" to pop up on the digital pregnancy test.

The impossible had become possible and despite being told that the medicine she was prescribed would make her infertile, there she was, pregnant.

The next steps inevitably were to stop taking the medication. It was a miracle that the baby had survived, but it certainly wouldn't survive multiple doses of her medication. But with that came a huge risk. Nine months off her medication. Any time during that period she could become seriously sick. So she had to watch everything she did, take plenty of vitamens, eat plenty of anti-oxidant enriched fruit.

Everything went perfectly, more perfect than the fairytale that Mrs. Hoshigaki had wished for. That was up until about her twenty-seventh week of pregnany when she fell ill and was told that if she didn't deliver, neither the baby nor she would survive.

The small baby who was born was taken to to be hooked up to various support machines, although the doctors assured Mrs. Hoshigaki that it was simply preliminary steps for the beginning weeks of the premature baby's life.

When a nurse had returned with a clipboard and pen in hand she looked directly at the weary now-mother. "Ma'am, what name would you like for your son."

"Kisame," she said without hesitation. It was a name she had wanted to name her son, and her husband had agreed upon it.

After about three weeks following Kisame's birth, the baby was released to be taken home with his father. The newborn's mother however was in no such condition and though she had felt fine for most of the pregnancy, her health had steadily been deteriorating.

Her husband walked in, baby Kisame wrapped up in blankets with his little blue hat, peacefully sleeping in his arms.

"He's so tiny," Mrs. Hoshigaki said, joy filling her soft voice.

"That he is." Baby Kisame jerked his head slightly in his sleep at the sound of his mother's voice. His skin was so pale that all little bluish tinged veins in his body visible, giving the baby a further feeling of fragility. Mr. Hoshigaki approached his wife slowly, carefully transferring the newborn over to her.

She smiled down at him, gently caressing his soft face with her forefinger. "You're gonna' grow up big and strong, just like your daddy," she cooed, looking over to her husband and smiling when he nodded. "Take care of him for me, okay?"

The smile slowly but surely faded from Takeshi Hoshigaki's face. "What do you mean? What are you talking about?" he asked in quick succession. "We're going to raise him. The both of us. Together. Just like it's always been."

She continued to coo and smile down at Kisame as the baby woke up, his cloudy pale golden eyes directed at her. She looked up at her husband. "You know as well as I that my time is...limited," she said after searching for the right word. "I'd like nothing more than to raise our son, together," she said using her husband's own word against him, "but I'm not naive, nor am I foolish enough to give you false hopes." Her eyes turned sideways, away from her husband's gaze. He opened his mouth, about to counter with something, but she spoke first, "my liver's giving out."

His mouth remained open for a few long moments while he tried to force words out. Nothing would come out though, so he closed his mouth, looking down somberly.

"Come now, don't lose face. Our son needs you to be strong. Please," she said pleadingly.

"It's just hard for me to accept - okay? That the love of my life is...is dying and I have no power, I'm helpless to do anything about it..." his eyes appeared glassy from the tears that welled up in them. How could he go on? How could he find the strength within himself to raise their child alone? How could he live with the constant reminder of his wife...?

"You can. I know that if anyone can do this, it's you. I'm counting on you, Takeshi."

"Yukie."

* * *

Yukie was in and out of the hospital for a little over four years. In the beginning, Takeshi took their son with him on every visit, and they talked while Kisame's tiny fingers found interest in a toy the nurse would leave for him, giggling happily in his mother's arms.

Nearing the end of the fourth year however, Yukie had fallen extremely sick and passed away. The day she had passed away, Takeshi had promised to visit her, first thing after work, and after he picked up Kisame from daycare. He had a missed call on his phone from the hospital and the message left him confused, worried, and scared. His mind was running a million miles per hour, and no matter how easily understandable the message was, it wasn't getting through.

'I am very sorry for your loss, Mrs. Hoshigaki is being transferred, please come or call as soon as possible to make arrangements for the-'

Funeral. It was held shortly after and after everyone had left, Kisame stood over the intricate headstone. "Daddy, where's Mommy?" the four year old asked innocently.

"She down there," Takeshi said, pointing to the ground.

"Why?"

"Because Kisame, she's dead." he really didn't want to be having this conversation with his young son, but he refused to lie to him, despite the fact that he was probably too young to grasp the concept of life and death. But it was hard. This wound was fresh and it'd probably always be. He had lost the mother to his son, his loving wife of over eight years, his partner in crime. His best friend...

"Why's she dead?" the small boy asked, not understanding what 'dead' actually was.

"She was sick," Takeshi said slowly to his son.

"Did she take mehdaycehn?" Kisame asked, trying his best to pronounce the word 'medicine'.

"Yes. But it didn't work." When Kisame made to ask another question, Takeshi stopped him. "That's enough questions for today son, you'll understand in time, when you're older."

Kisame made a face and started to cry. He didn't know what was going on, and it was frustrating that his dad didn't want to answer anymore questions. His dad always did that. His preschool teacher and daycare always encouraged him to ask questions; lots and lots of them. But his dad only answered up until a point before saying to save the rest for later. He always tried to choose his questions carefully because they were limited with his dad. 'Mommy always told me', Kisame thought bitterly, wiping away his tears because big boys didn't cry. But right now his dad was crying. Holding onto the headstone as if it were a life-raft after adding to the large pile of flowers already on the grave.

Kisame didn't know what to do. The clouds pulled in ominously as thunder roared and rain began to slowly fall. The slow falling rain quickly turned into a downpour though as his father continued to hold onto the headstone, crying tears that mixed with rain and yelling words that Kisame couldn't make sense of.

Kisame took a small step forward, "Dad, you'll get sick-"

But Kisame's aunt patted his shoulder and shook her head solemnly when he met her gaze. She held her large umbrella over the both of them, shielding the young boy from the rain before stooping down so her eyes were level with Kisame's. "Not now Sweetie. Daddy just needs some time alone. Come on," she gently held her hand out, "let's go see your cousins, they're waiting in the car." When Kisame made no move to follow, and rooted his feet to the ground stubbornly, his aunt sighed. "I'll buy you anything you wanna' eat for dinner," she bargained.

"Anything?" Kisame asked with a hint of distrust.

"Anything," she confirmed.

"Even ice cream?"

"Even ice cream," she once again repeated in confirmation.

It took a moment but Kisame's face turned up into a bright smile that lit up his innocent features. "Okay!" Kisame started running forward, not even sure where his aunt's car was, just knowing that he wanted ice cream and he didn't want to be near his dad right now when he was acting like that; acting a way that both confused and scared him.

"Now hold on Kisame, you're going the wrong way! And don't run, you might trip and fall," she gently scolded. "Aww, you got your nice clothes all wet, Sweetie," Kisame's aunt nodded over to his uncle who was standing close by.

"Can you watch him for a moment? I'll be right back." She handed the umbrella over to her husband and he took it, holding it over Kisame who stood there impatiently but refused to look in the direction of his father.

"Hey Sport," Kisame's uncle said with his habitual goofy grin plastered on his face. He took out his wallet and removed a five, handing it to Kisame who smiled and took it, no longer looking quite so impatient.

"Can we go to the store?" Kisame asked hopefully, waving the money around like a flag.

"Sure Sport, we'll stop by on our way home."

"Am I staying over tonight Uncle?"

"Yep! It'll be so fun," his uncle replied animatedly. "We'll play games and watch movies and everything!" Kisame smiled.

"Takeshi..." When the drenched man didn't respond, she tried again, "Takeshi...?"

He looked up, acknowledging his older sister, but said nothing and made no move to leave.

"I think it'd be good if Obito and I took Kisame home with us." When Takeshi said nothing still, she went on. "I know this is hard for you, it's hard for all of us-"

"What do you know?" Takeshi suddenly screamed at his sister. "What do you know of the pain I'm going through?" She looked down and away from her younger brother. "That's right. Nothing. You know nothing of what I'm feeling, what I'm going through."

She straightened up, her posture becoming authoritative and her voice becoming business-like. "That still doesn't answer my question. You don't sound like you're in the right frame of mind to take care of a toddler, and so help me God, I won't stand for you doing anything stupid with my nephew in tow. Do you understand?" She wasn't aiming to make him feel worse, wasn't aiming to make him angry. This was the only way, she knew from experience, to get her younger brother to listen. And she wouldn't walk away until he conceded and realized that the smart decision was for her to watch over Kisame. As of now, Kisame didn't seem to be his top priority, and that scared her, even the thought, to leave the young boy with his father when he was in such a broken state of mind. Doing so spelled out many things; none of them even remotely good.

"What...?" he asked, as if he were strangely confused.

"Kisame - your son, Obito and I are taking him home with the boys."

"I know who my son is! I haven't gone daft, Shizune."

Shizune wanted so badly to slap her brother. This was hard for everyone - not just him. He didn't need to bottle everything up in the presence of his family and those who loved him only to alienate himself and let his emotions free in an unhealthy way. But knowing him, that was exactly what he was going to do.

"...Yeah, you should take the boy. I'm going for a drink. And I've got work tomorrow. If you're busy tomorrow could you drop Kisame off at daycare and call me? I'll pick him-"

"I'm not busy, and you shouldn't be going out drinking. Or going straight to work tomorrow."

"I have bills to pay Shizune. Hospital bills, mortgage, electricity, water, garbage, cell phone, funeral costs, car insurance, daycare, and the remainding preschool fees that I owe since Kisame will be starting kindergarten not too far off from now," he counted off each on one hand with his forefinger. "I think I deserve a few drinks."

"You're not alone. We can-"

"Is it so inconceivable that I may to work my own work rather than rely on others to take care of my own responsibilities."

"I'm just trying to-" once again she was cut off.

"Help. I know. But I just...I just need to do all of this on my own. Please..." He looked away before looking back into his sister's eyes. "You're already doing enough by taking care of Kisame tonight, and if it's not too much trouble, could you-?"

Now it was Shizune's turn to interrupt. "Of course, there's no need to ask. I'd be happy to."

It took a bit, but Takeshi summoned up a "thank you" as grief decided to resettle in when his eyes returned to the headstone, his reflection showing in the shiny black marble. He looked pitiful, his clothes clinging to him while the rain continued to pour and his gaze glassy and far off.

"Take care of yourself. And call me when you get the chance," Shizune stated, walking back in the direction of what looked to be quite a fussy four year old.

* * *

"I wanna' go now," Kisame whined, impatiently stamping his foot the way he'd seen grown-ups do.

"Why don't you get in the car and wait Kiddo. Standing here's not gonna' make anything happen any faster.

Kisame pouted, not listening entirely, but attempted to get into the van nonetheless. Obito chuckled before boosting him up.

When Kisame peered in he saw his two awkward cousins, Tobi and Zetsu, both in the respective car seats seated next to each other, munching away on animal crackers and sipping from their spill-proof sippy cups.

"Hi..." he said awkwardly, giving a small wave.

"Hi!" Tobi screeched back in reply, waving excitedly and spilling a few of his animal crackers out of the little box with zoo animals on it.

Zetsu offered a meek "hi" and wave, returning to watching 'Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi' on the thin LCD screen poised above them.

Kisame smiled at Zetsu. He was shy and soft-spoken, very much unlike his loud brother Tobi, which was a good thing because two Tobi's would've figuratively killed him. He sat down in the space between Zetsu and Tobi's car seats and took a sip from the sippy cup that Tobi joyfully offered and munched on a few of the animal crackers that Zetsu silently nudged toward him.

Kisame's aunt returned with Kisame's car seat, that she had got from their car, and put it in the third row of seats, being that the driver's seat and the front seat next to it was for 'grown-ups only', and there was no more room for a third car seat in the second row where Zetsu and Tobi were situated.

Once Kisame was seated and strapped in, Shizune handed him his own box of animal cracks and a box of juice with a warning to be careful not to spill. Kisame fought the urge to say something 'smart' back to his aunt. He wasn't a baby, he knew how to drink a juice box without causing a mess.

The ice cream shops had all long since closed, with it almost being eight o'clock. Luckily the nearest drive-thru had frosties, which was close enough to ice cream, and they picked up dinner from there while they were at it. Kisame had gotten a breaded fish burger, which he told Shizune he "had" to try, Zetsu had opted for chicken nuggets, Tobi happily munched away on his cheeseburger while Shizune had a salad and Obito ate the large fries he had ordered.

Obito leaned over and looked at Shizune. "I promised Kisame that we'd stop by the store, so that's where we're headed and then home sweet home."

Shizune nodded before chuckling and Kisame perked up at the thought of heading to the store with his five dollars safely secured in his suit pants' pocket. He had almost forgotten about that. Almost.

When Obito stopped the car in front of the grocery store, both Tobi and, surprisingly, Zetsu, started squirming in their car seats, both anxious to get out. Kisame just waited patiently, wanting to make himself seem more mature and adult-like. Maybe then he would be considered a viable candidate for the front seat. Then again, maybe not. But it was always worth a shot.

"Hold on, hold on Sweetie," Shizune said gently to Zetsu who was making every possible attempt to free himself from his car seat's seatbelt. Obito was about to go undo Kisame's car seat seatbelt, but was surprised to see his nephew patiently sitting there, so he instead began to undo Tobi's, his son on the verge of tears and a tantrum. After Shizune had finished undoing Zetsu, she went back to undo Kisame and smiled at him, happy to see at least one somewhat patient four year old in the car.

"Hold each other's hands, okay? I don't want to lose any of you little ones in the store," Shizune said playfully.

It had worked out fine, at first at least, but then Kisame had been the first to unattach himself from the group once he spotted the candy aisle, and after a moments hesitation Zetsu had decided to follow his cousin. Shizune had took off after the two of them leaving Tobi holding his dad's hand - despite how impatient he had been to get out of his car seat, he was the only one who hadn't darted down to the candy aisle.

Tobi turned to his dad. "Daddy can you pick me up?" Obito smiled before swooping down and hoisting his son high above on his shoulders. A few single mothers turned and "awhh-ed" at the action.

* * *

"You two hold up! Zetsu! Kisame! I said wait for me!" Shizune yelled, running after the two boys.

Kisame stopped when he saw the jumbo bag of assorted candy that was nearly half his size. He pulled and the bag of candy and it slipped off the shelf, but it was too heavy for him to carry so he looked at Zetsu pleadingly. Zetsu grabbed the other end and they continued on their journey, this time Zetsu leading, Shizune hot on their tails.

When they got to the ice cream section, they were disappointed to find that the precious assorted flavors of the creamy treat were trapped behind a heavy cold glass door of some sort. Luckily, a stopped.

"Zabuza, are't they just adorable?" Haku, a teenager no older than seventeen asked his boyfriend.

Zabuza scratched the back of his neck. He was nineteen, but still wasn't even beginning to think about babies and toddlers and kids in general. "Yeah. They look determined too. Probably want some ice cream. And I don't blame 'em, I want some too." Zabuza said, opening the glass door and pulling out chocolate fudge ice cream. Looking down, "Uh, you guys want some?"

Zetsu looks at Kisame and Kisame looked back at Zetsu before staring up at the tall teenager. "Yes." he says.

"Uhm, uh, what flavor?"

Kisame turned to Zetsu who gave him a look that said 'I dunno', and looked back at him. "Fwayvor?" he tried to say.

"Uh, I don't they know what you're talking about," Haku chuckled.

Zabuza sighed and grabbed the tri-colored one in the see-through pail. Chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. There. No way to go wrong when there was all three classic flavors to choose from; whether you could tie your own shoes or not...or even read the label...it would sure please most.

Zetsu and Kisame both said "thank you," in unison and Zabuza replied with a "you're welcome kiddos." After they left, both Kisame and Zetsu made to continue their journey, but they were caught; booked. They hadn't lost Shizune in the canned goods aisle after all.

"Okay, we're just going to go buy this," Shizune said, prying the candy and ice cream away from their fingers, "but don't think you two're off the hook. You guys are in big trouble." She gave what could only be described as "the look" to her son and her nephew.

Yep. Journey over.

* * *

Once the five of them had made it back to the car, Obito strapped in and a now-sleeping Tobi in Kisame's car seat, and the two pint sized guilty parties were buckled into the car seats closest to Shizune and Obito.

"Don't either of you ever do that again. I mean it," she sternly scolded. She was genuinely worried. What if something had happened to the two of them?

Kisame promised along with Zetsu that he wouldn't but he didn't entirely mean what he was saying. If the chance arose again...well, he'd take over from there. Besides, walking beside his aunt and uncle while they shopped slowly and bought boring things was, well, boring. And Kisame didn't want to be bored.

The ride home served only to lull Kisame and Zetsu into a half asleep, half awake state, but they arrived all too soon, and Shizune vindictively made them both walk to their bedrooms in their sleepy state while she gently carried a sleeping Tobi to his bed. She had come back in the room a few moments later carrying an extra blanket with The Lion King printed on it, and a soft pillow incased in a Charizard (Pokèmon) pillow sheet.

"Share beds with either Tobi or Zetsu, okay Kisame? Just make sure not to wake up Tobi if you decide to share with him." With that she turned on the night light, flipped the light switch, and quietly closed the door.

"You should sleep with me," Zetsu said, wiggling around in his Power Rangers jammies.

"Why?" Kisame asked innocently. He was weighing his options here.

"Because," Zetsu started, "Tobi gets spit all over his bed." At that Kisame turned to look over at Tobi, and sure enough a steady line of drool was dripping out of his mouth and onto his pillowsheets.

"Ugh.." Kisame made a face. "Yeah, I wanna' sleep with you too." Especially in comparison to the drooly monster over there.

Zetsu scooted over happily, patting the space directly next to him and Kisame put his pillow on top of Zetsu's and pulled his blankey atop the bed as well, drifting off to sleep shortly thereafter.

* * *

Tobi was the first one awake, jumping onto Zetsu's shared bed and attempting to squeeze in between Zetsu and Kisame. That didn't work though so he went to lay at the foot of the bed, not disturbing the other two boys. And that lasted for all of two minutes before he began to bounce up and down on the bed in his race car red footie pajamas. "Wakeee uppp," he whined, rocking the bed for extra measure.

Zetsu blinked up, used to his early-rising brother. Kisame however, groaned and attempted to throw a stray pillow at Tobi, which he ducked and it fell uselessly to the floor. "I wanna' sleep. Go away..." he groaned.

"Meanie," Tobi muttered, hopping off the bed.

Zetsu giggled. It was never that easy for him to get Tobi to get off his bed in the morning. Tobi went back over to his own bed, a pout in place of his usual cheeriness.

"Hey boys, Mommy and Auntie Shizune got breakfast ready," Obito said, referring to his wife in two ways so the relation would apply to all three boys.

"Who's Auntie Shizune?" Tobi asked with wide eyes.

"Stupid, that's Mommy." Zetsu answered, grinning at Kisame.

"Whoa, whoa watch your language Zetsu. Nobody in this house it stupid. I don't know where you got that word from but your best bet'd be to stop using it." Obito said.

"Sorry..."

"Don't say sorry to me, say sorry to your brother."

"Sorry Tobi..."

"It's okay," Tobi said smiling again, eyes growing wide at the sight of his mom's homemade berry pancakes drizzled in buttermilk syrup and shaped into Mickey Mouse with whipped cream and fresh raspberries and orange juice.

Kisame felt his stomach growl. He never got homemade food back at home. It was always pre-made or take-out or ordered. His dad never had the time to cook any sort of meal. And although his four year old mind couldn't wrap around the reasons why his mom and dad weren't normal, he knew he wished they were. So they could be like this.

After they had washed up, Shizune had told the boys that they were free to play outside if they wished. But Kisame refused. Zetsu had tried to get Kisame to go outside and play tag with him and Tobi, but still he had refused, and eventually Zetsu gave up and went to go play tag with his brother.

After Shizune had finished the dishes and tidying around the house, she noticed Kisame sitting at the table, his dark blue hair obscuring his face, only one golden eye showing while his chin rested on the table. "What's wrong Sweetie, not feeling well?" she asked.

"No," Kisame answered simply. "I'm just waiting to go to the hospitable," he tried his best to pronounce "hospital".

"Why?" Shizune asked her nephew, concerned.

"To see Mommy." Kisame said.

"Oh Sweetie..." Shizune didn't want to be the one to do this, but it had to be done. The funeral hadn't made sense to Kisame, and that was only natural considering his age. "Your Mommy, she's-"

* * *

A/N: The basis of this story is reincarnation, with one's fate being continually tied to certain people, even after they are reborn into a new life. The gist of it is after someone dies, they are reborn into the opposite world; so shinobi and the like from the Ninja!Naruto world are reborn into the "Normal"!Naruto world (no jutsu/chakra, cars, modern stuff) and vice versa. I gave Kisame's parent's names (Takeshi and Yukie, since there was no information on their first names...) Thanks for reading, review if you have the time.


	3. Chapter 3

"The tailed beasts...which one are we after?"

"...Whichever one we first come in contact with."

"Itachi...you truly are a man of few words."

"Perhaps you are a man of too many."

"Hahaha. Hm...? Itachi? What's the matter, something on your mind?"

"I was just thinking that now...may be the last time we ever see each other."

"What is going on? It's not like you to go on about such pointless things. I don't even know what you mean."

"The end, it draws near, and neither of us have the power to stop it. Just watch and wait for it to come."

"I don't know about you Itachi, but I don't plan on dying anytime soon. I'll take on whoever it is that you're talking about. I won't-"

"Hm. Maybe we'll meet again. In the next life..."

"You know I never understand it when you talk in riddles."

"Perhaps it's destiny. Fate...divine retribution."

"Itachi..."

* * *

Shizune spent the next few hours consoling Kisame. After carefully explaining the concept of death - that there was no coming back from that place in the ground, the young boy had broken down in tears, his face red and his deep blue hair plastered to it. Aside from his reddened cheeks and nose, his face looked abnormally pale after he had finally stopped crying and he just sat there at the table, squirming out of Shizune's grasp and staring sightlessly ahead like he was seeing something more; something that was not there, or at least not visible to Shizune anyways.

She got up, about to rest her hand on Kisame's shoulder and tell him, that despite all the feelings of pain and loss - feelings a small child should not have to go through, he was not alone. But her husband shook his head slowly at her when he walked into the kitchen, having gotten the gist of what was going on. He went over to the coffee machine and poured the bag of grated vanilla coffee beans into the disposable coffee bag before placing it into the machine and filling the pot with the right amount of water.

He turned towards Shizune, hand practicedly plugging in the cord and starting the machine. "Give him time," he said softly, "these things take time. As much as I'd like it to be, neither you nor I have the power to make him feel all better right away." He nodded in the direction of where Tobi and Zetsu were running in through the kitchen, loudly shouting, "but they might, and that's the best we can hope for."

Shizune nodded both in understanding and agreement, but despite both her hand still uselessly reached out to rub Kisame's back. She retracted it at the last second, telling herself that as much as she wanted to, she couldn't make it all better for the child; maybe she'd just end up making things worse, and that was certainly not her intention.

"Come on Kisame! We're playing superheroes! Come play with us, it's no fun without you," Tobi shouted animatedly, waving around dirt covered fingers.

"Yeah," Zetsu agreed, "it's no fun with just the two of us!"

"Now boys..."

"...Okay," Kisame sniffled once before wiping at his eyes roughly with the back of his sleeve. "I'll play the villain." with that Kisame slowly got up from the table, not too excitedly, but followed as Tobi and Zetsu pulled him in the direction of the backyard.

After only fifteen minutes had passed Shizune heard Kisame playfully yelling from the yard. "Rawr, I'm a shark. I'm going to eat you!" and Tobi's excited screams of "oh no, we gotta run away!" followed by Zetsu's triumphant, "No! We will stand here and fight."

Shizune chuckled briefly, making her way out back to the patio to silently keep an eye on the three boys; last time she'd let them alone to their own devices Tobi had ended up on the other side of Old Man Sarutobi's fence. He hadn't been mad at all, just had asked if the boy was alright, but Shizune felt guilty that her son had crushed most of his flowers that had cushioned his fall. Besides, the man was a living legend; a war veteran whom of which bitterness had not caught up with him in his age. If anything, he was a wise man.

"Hahaha! You will never escape me! You're on my tear-a-tor-ry!" Kisame yelled, pronouncing every syllable of the word "territory" slowly, as if they were somewhat separate yet still together.

Shizune chuckled as Kisame chased Tobi and Zetsu around the yard. The hard part about dealing with death at a young age was there were no coping strategies, no experience or knowledge and the whole ordeal was just as frustratingly confusing as it was painful. The good part of it - if it could be described as such, was that it was simply a fact, proven time and time again, that kids bounced back pretty quickly.

After about a half hour of running around, the three of them looked burnt out and retreated back to the patio where Shizune was seated. "Hey boys, ready to come back in?"

"Yeah!" all three of them chimed in unison.

"Mommy I'm hungry," Tobi whined. Zetsu nodded and after peering over at the both of them, Kisame silently nodded in agreement as well.

"Okay, you three just wash your hands and I'll get you some snacks and juice."

One by one they lined up, Tobi at the front, silently washing his hands at the kitchen sink while standing on the step-stool, Kisame behind him, and Zetsu patiently waiting behind him.

Shizune went to the cupboard and took out a box of frosted strawberry sprinkled Poptarts. She removed two bags from the box and opened them, taking three of them and placing them on disposable plates and leaving the fourth one for herself, the metallic bagged treats came in twos. Going back into the cupboard she pulled out the large thing of animal crackers in a see-through container shaped liked a bear. She put a small handful, making sure it was equal so the boys wouldn't argue, into each plate that already had the Poptart, and passed them out to the three boys waiting at the table. Then she pulled out three sippy cups and poured apple juice into them and gave them to Tobi, Zetsu, and Kisame as well.

The three boys happily munched and sipped away and Shizune smiled at the serene sight. "After this is nap time, okay?" After they nodded, she added, "and then we're going to go clothes shopping."

Zetsu frowned in between a bite of his Poptart. "Mommy I don't wanna' go clothes shopping. That's boring."

"Yeah," Kisame agreed and Tobi nodded, not wanting to be left out.

"Sweetie, you three are starting kindergarten in a little while, isn't that so exciting?" Shizune seemed to be the only one enthused as she looked around at the expressionless faces of the boys.

Kisame was the first to complain. "That's even more boring Auntie Shizune!"

"Yeah Mommy!" Tobi and Zetsu chimed.

"You guys are going and that's final, no more arguing with grown-ups, understood?" Obito said, chastising them authoritively, but not mean spiritedly. He went over to the pot and poured his coffee into his large mug, drinking deeply from it.

"Yes, Daddy," Zetsu said defeatedly.

"Okay," Kisame acquiesenced.

Tobi just scowled, turning his head in a show of defiance. "Whatever."

"What did you say Young Man?" Obito set down his cup. "I think someone needs a time-out."

"Nah, I think someone just needs a nap," Shizune said, staring at her son. "Someone's getting fussy."

"No Mommy, I don't need a nap," Tobi countered.

"Well you're taking one regardless, Sweetie."

Obito huffed and walked out of the room, steaming coffee cup in hand. They'd tried to resolve this issue together civally, but that always turned out in an argument, and he didn't want to argue in front of the kids no more than Shizune did. The point of the matter was that they frequently clashed in parenting styles. He had his way of doing things and his wife, Shizune, had hers. But that wasn't how it was supposed to be, was it? Weren't they supposed to be on the same page? It was frustrating to no end. He believed that when the kids stepped outta' line they needed a consequence to remind them of what they should and shouldn't do. Shizune just sugar coated everything, telling them nicely to stop, sometimes losing her temper, but never giving them any kind of punishment, even time-outs. Obito refused to father spoiled brats.

After the three boys woke up from their nap, though it was actually only the two of them because Tobi opted for the ultimate element of defiance and stayed up, refusing to go to sleep, Shizune got them dressed in their shoes and jackets. They headed toward the car but Tobi was stumbling about, sleepily rubbing at his eyes of which his eyelids in particular had become unnaturally heavy and thus it was an obvious battle; a fight for Tobi to keep those orange-red eyes of his open.

"I told you to take a nap Sweetie," Shizune gently reprimanded. "And look, you're so tired that you're practically falling asleep on your feet." she put Tobi in his car seat first, wary that he might in fact actually do just that, fall asleep while standing. If the way he was precariously swaying was any hint, he wouldn't have been exactly standing for too much longer.

Zetsu fought back a bitter yet taunting "I told you so," because truly, he had. He had told his fraternal twin brother that he would be tired if he went through with his plan of avoiding sleep as if it would negatively affect their parents. Maybe he didn't describe it exactly so in so many words, but that was the gist of it. He had said it was a stupid idea that would fire on his back. At least that's how he thought the grown-ups said that saying anyways.

In the car Tobi drifted off almost immediately and Shizune got out, unbuckling him and carrying him back inside the house to his bedroom where she lay him in his bed and tucked him in. He didn't seem to stir during the entirety of the brief process. Before returning to the car she told Obito that Tobi was staying home, and returned outside, hitting the button on her car keys to unlock the car door of the van that she had locked for safety's sake, even though she had not been out of sight for more than four minutes.

The drive to the store was rather quiet, Kisame sat in his car seat, drifting in and out of slumber as his head slumped in an uncomfortable position, the whirr of the car and the tranquil pitter-patter of cold rain against the window tugging him even further into the realm of sleep and dreams.

* * *

"Sometimes I look back on all the mistakes I've made and wonder what would happen if I never made them."

"Hm?"

"...Don't you ever wonder? Haven't you ever wondered...?"

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't. What brought this on though?"

"Nothing. Just a thought. Do you suppose it's possible to live life fully without any regrets at all?"

"I think regrets are merely accomplished goals in disguise."

"Hm...?"

"Well when you want something so desperately that you'd be willing to do anything to have it - let's just say power, doesn't that willingness cause a fear? And that fear is hidden until the goal is accomplished. Let's say this person lost a lot to attain power, to achieve their goal, then they are simply mourning what they lost to get where or what they got. But at the end of it, it is a goal achieved."

"Goals...so in the end it is our own ambition that leads us to the doors of despair."

"Well I dunno' about all that, but what I do know is that I fight purely for fighting and I kill purely for killing. The day I have a goal will be the day I feel despair. Regret I suppose you could say. I used to be like that though...weighed down by all my regrets. But I've changed-"

"People don't change. They adapt, they lie - whether to themselves or others in an attempt to feel anew. But no one can recreate themselves, we can only hide or stand in plain sight."

"Hahaha. I guess you're right. That sharigan you have there isn't your only asset. Yet your wisdom is far beyond your years, Itachi."

"...Hn."

* * *

Kisame did what any other four year old would do in a crowded mall in the department store, still, after nearly an hour and a half. He cried, bawling his eyes out and Zetsu joined in, quickly getting Shizune's attention, and the unwanted raised eyebrows and accusatory glares of a few parents.

"Shush, shush, shhhhh! Come on boys it won't be too much longer okay?" Shizune pleaded desperately. When that didn't work she added a, "ice cream when we get home?" and that near instantly silenced the duo. "Okay then, we have a deal."

But it was a boring deal for now, at least until they got home, so Kisame decided to hop out of the cart (though with a considerable amount of difficulty considering his height, or lack thereof), the second Shizune turned her back to grab a blue and white striped polo. When she turned around Kisame was no longer in the basket, Zetsu was the only one in the cart, fiddling with the zipper of the half black, half white sweater he had begged his mom to add to the cart, completely unaware that his fellow toddler had made a run for it. Shizune felt like crying and banging her head on the cream colored walls, both at the same time. What did she have to do to catch a break with that adorable trouble-maker of a nephew of hers?

Kisame ducked between circular metal racks that held discount clothes but bumped into something - or rather someone, when he entered what he had thought to be an empty inner circle of this time a rectangular wooden display that held pristinely folded shirts of all sizes atop it.

"Oops, uhm, sorry." Kisame laughed nervously while rubbing the back of his neck, a nervous habit he'd learned from his father.

"Itachi! Sweetie where are you?" A young woman yelled.

"Shhh," the toddler next him whispered. "They can't find me."

"Why?" Kisame whispered.

Itachi shushed him once again and pointed towards a pair of heeled feet that clacked by. "That's why," he said in a low voice.

After a few beats Kisame looked back at the face of the girl next to him. She had shiny straight black hair that was cut into an inverted bob and pale skin, but despite her young age her undereyes held a pinkish tint, something that he'd seen on overworked grown-ups, and it made the fellow toddler seem slightly older, though that didn't take away from her prettiness though.

Feeling the stare of the boy next to him, Itachi scoffed, he was always mistaken for the opposite gender. "I'm a boy by the way."

"Huh? Wha-" Kisame stuttered and stumbled over his words before innocently leaning in. "But you're so pretty." And boys weren't supposed to be pretty. They were supposed to be handsome.

"You can't just go around saying that! We have to have a marry-age first," Itachi crossed his arms, "and have you say'd that to anyone else?"

"Uhm, maybe." Kisame looked skywards, recalling several times he had complimented several girls calling them "pretty," from his mom to that girl who always played in the sandbox at the park.

"Maybe?" Itachi frowned.

The raven-haired genius toddler sighed. "My name's Itachi. Itachi Uchiha. Here's my card." he handed the blue haired boy next to him a retangle of cardstock paper that had his name scribbled on it in red and black crayon.

Kisame just stared cluelessly for a minute until he got the hint that Itachi was holding it out for him to take. He looked at it. Then nervously rubbed, yet again, at his neck. "I can't really read."

"You can't read...? I swear I'm surrounded by idiots," he said harshly with a frown.

It took Kisame a moment but he frowned too, "hey, you can't say that. That's a bad word."

"Not-uh," Itachi countered.

"Uh-huh."

"Not-uh," Itachi repeated, louder this time.

Kisame sighed like how his Aunty Shizune usually did when she gave in. He looked to Itachi, who was still frowning, and patted his face gently.

"What was that for-?"

"My mommy always say'd that you shouldn't frown for a long time. Your face might get stuck like that."

Itachi didn't say anything, thinking it over. "My mom says that too."

As if a lightbulb went off, Kisame's eyes widened, "Oh! I forgot to tell you my name. It's-"

"There you are," Shizune interrupted lowering down and parting their secret abode. "We were both so worried," she gestured between herself and the pale women with long ebony hair behind her.

"Itachi," her voice took on a warning "you-know-you're-in-trouble" tone. "You should know better than all this. Going off on your own in a busy store, anything could've happened. Besides, you have your piano lessons and your tutor's going to arrive home shortly. Don't forget the tea ceremony this evening either." Itachi crawled out and the woman, presumably the boy's mother, picked him up and waved a friendly goodbye before leaving.

Zetsu was the one who broke the silence from in the front part of the cart. "Mommy, when are we going home?"

Shizune turned around, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Soon Sweetie. Let's just go pay for these and we can go home." Kisame crawled out and Shizune hoisted him back into the cart.

That was the kind of parent she feared, above all else, becoming. Someone who pushed their values on their children. Someone who put so much pressure on a small child to exceed and get ahead. Someone who lived out their own dreams through them; it sickened her.

The car ride home was filled with silence. It was a little after six and Zetsu had fallen asleep, thoroughly worn out by the clothes shopping trip, even though he had spent most of it in the cart. Kisame however was quiet, staring out the window. It had begun raining again, miraculously just like the weather forcaster had predicted; it seemed that they could predict "bad weather" just fine.

"You're not in trouble you know," Shizune said to Kisame, keeping her eyes on the road.

Kisame didn't reply or even make any attempt at a responce. He just continued looking out the window, thinking of Itachi and how sad his face looked when his mom said all those things that he needed to do. Was that why he was hiding? And he didn't even get a chance to tell him his name, either. Kisame reached into his pocket, pulling out the card Itachi had given him and grasping it tightly in his tiny hands.

* * *

A/N:: A bit of a minor detail to some, but important to others: the characters still have their original hair and eye colors - even if (naturally occuring) blue hair or red eyes may not exist in our own society. But, as you may've noticed, I did change the skin tones (to only naturally occuring ones) - so no black and white Zetsu or blue hued Kisame. Review if you liked it, hit the back button if you did not; thank you!


	4. Chapter 4

"What's this?" Kisame asked Shizune, pointing to a bunch of numbers that were written, quite largely, on the back of a card.

"Hm? What's that?" Shizune said, gently taking the card out of Kisame's hands, gauging his reaction the whole time. "Ah, Uchiha Itachi? Do you know who that is?"

kisame looked up in thought. "Mhm. She - he - he's the boy. From the store."

"Ohh," Shizune drew out, insight lighting up her features. "Well," she turned over the card, inspecting it, "that's a phone number."

"Really?" Kisame nearly bounced up with satisfaction. He loved the telephone. At his house it was a cordless machine that was rarely used, but it was magical. Before his mom had gone to that place faraway in the ground, pressing the buttons had allowed him to talk to her, no matter how far away he was from the hospital he could hear her ethereal voice. Now he could use that dusty telephone that sat, built into the wall of his aunt's kitchen like in the old movies.

Except when he asked to use the phone his aunt returned with a light, somewhat thin and glossy screened rectangular object that she told her nephew was called a "cell phone." He had seen his dad's several times before, but rarely had his father ever allowed him to use it. And whenever he asked, his dad would reply with something along the lines of "maybe when you're older," or "you might accidentally break it." But those few times that his dad had let him play with the games on his phone called "apps" or put the phone to his ear when his mom asked after him did he get to handle the fragile magical object.

"So...can I use it?"

Shizune chuckled. "Of course you can Sweetie." she looked at the clock which read three-thirty in the afternoon. It wasn't too late, so she supposed it was fine. Besides, she wanted to encourage Kisame to make friends wherever he could because she doubted that her brother, however sad it may be, had the time to be concerned with such things. She dialed the number on the card and waited, Kisame looking up brightly, waiting for the boring greetings and introductions to pass.

* * *

"Itachi, won't you at least consider?"

Itachi crossed his arms and looked away. "Why is it that my options are so few?" he paused, gazing over, "don't most kids my age get...more?"

"You're not like the rest of them. Itachi you're-"

"And why not? Why can't I be!" Itachi walked over to the glass table in the middle of the large guest room and knocked over all of the tea cups and the expensive teapot hit the hardwood floor and shattered. "Why not!" he screamed even louder, causing his mom to flinch. "Why can't I go to the park? Or play with kids my age? I want friends that you don't pay to hang out with me." Itachi felt sobs rack his small shoulders. "I want to be normal!"

"But you're not normal Itachi, you're not like the rest of the kids your age. You're a-"

Itachi tuned her last words out. 'You're a prodigy. You're far more intelligent than everyone else your age; far more talented too.' The speech was the same, every single time. The only thing that changed was how desperate his mom sounded, like she was pleading with him for her life.

"I'm not-" and then Itachi's dad stepped into the room, that disapproving look on his face. Like Itachi had failed him. Like how he always did. Everything Itachi did was to seek that nod of approval from his father and that warm smile from his mother. But now his father was looking at him with those cold silent eyes that dried out his throat and turned his feet into something heavier than lead. He felt like he was sinking.

"Your mother and I," mother, not mom, never anything with as warm a connotation as 'mom' when he disappointed them, "we just want the best of you. We want you to be successful, not wasteful. Itachi, you have a gift that few are born with, you're different," there it was, that word again. Different. Not the same as everyone else. Even the word 'gift' couldn't sugarcoat how much of a freak he felt; alienated by his peers by his social status, pushed away from 'normal' things by his prodigal intelligence. He was an accomplishment that they were waiting to collect on, "we just want to know where you're going - doctor, CEO, perhaps even take over my company one day? It's never-"

Itachi clamped his hands over both ears tightly. 'It's never too early to choose.' His mother wanted him to take over the popular traditional teahouse she owned, but his father always shot that down, saying it'd be a waste of Itachi's talents to serve tea to people that he bettered ten times over. His father himself wanted him to take over the pharmaceudical company he owned - and if not that to become a CEO, or even a doctor of his own practice. Itachi's grandparents wanted him to come over to work and live in the family temple in Osaka, away from sinful temptation and 'city-life' worries. His uncle was the leader of an unrivaled Yakuza gang, though his father had done everything in his power to keep him out of Itachi's life, but he was the only one who had not offered or pushed his lifestyle onto him. Even Itachi's piano instructor, someone he counted among his few and only friends, was bringing up that Itachi should think about going professional in the future.

He was getting pulled and tugged in every which way, and no one cared save for his uncle, a man who had been marked and labled as 'bad' and whose face he could not even recall. But he'd heard the hushed conversations, how his uncle would yell vehemently at his father. He at least was on his side. He cared about Itachi doing 'normal' things, like going the park or playing at a friend's. That was, if he even had any...

The door was quickly pulled open and a girl with mouse brown hair, someone Itachi didn't care to memorize - just another maid, rushed in before bowing quickly. "Sir, Ma'am, please excuse my intrusion but a Miss Shizune is calling for Master Itachi." she held the phone up as proof.

Itachi's father sighed. "Who...? For what reason is this woman calling my son?" Itachi turned away from the overprotective words. So now he had no problem defending him as if he weren't a complete disappointment. But the sentiment might as well of fallen on deaf ears for all the impact it had.

"Sir, she said she's calling on behalf of a Kisame, her nephew apparently. He wants to talk to Master Itachi."

Kisame? Who was Kisame? Itachi couldn't remember a Kisame, not even among all those business associates of his father's, or among his large list of past and present tutors, or even between the aquintances he kept. But then there was that- but it couldn't be, could it?"

"I'm sure he does, but you'll have to forgive me if I'm not so keen on letting my son talk to complete strangers, that I have no knowledge of, over the phone. I want you to run a full background check on this-"

Itachi's father's stern demands were interrupted by the boy himself running up to the woman and snatching the phone out of her hand. "Hello?"

A sigh and a muffled "finally," was heard before the sound the the phone being tranferred. "Hello."

"Hello," Itachi repeated, smiling. It was him. It was that boy that he met at the department store with the blue hair, his voice was unmistakeable.

"I used your card," Kisame chuckled nervously.

"Really? 'Cause I only had one you know. I forgot to make copies."

"Copies?"

"Uhm, extra ones," Itachi reiterated.

The room was quiet as Itachi's parents listened without giving any pretense of allowing the boy privacy, or even pretending that they weren't listening in. The maid had the decency to excuse herself after minute or so though.

"Why not?"

"'Cause it's special. There can only be one," Itachi walked out of the room, his parents still staring after him, and proceeded to walk down the hall and up the stairs, locking his room after he closed the door.

Kisame laughed. "I'm happy to be special then."

"We can be special together then?" Itachi asked with a hopeful tone to his voice. He didn't want to be special by himself anymore. It was a lonely ordeal.

"Yeah! Together!"

Suddenly Itachi felt like jumping up and down on his canopy bed, so he did, and it felt great. "I'm so happy!"

"Me too, you're so fun Itachi!" 'Fun'? No one'd called him fun before, especially with such little effort on his part. He never thought of himself as fun, but Kisame did. And that felt great too.

"I'm starting school in a few months," Itachi proudly announced.

"Me too!"

"What school are you going to?"

"Hm..." then he heard shifting and running, which followed by a reprimand to 'not run in the house.' "Aunty what school am I going to?" there was a woman's voice that answered, but Itachi couldn't make out what she said. "Konoha Elementary!" Kisame loudly replied.

"Awhh," Itachi whined, "that's not where I'm going..."

"Really? Where're you going?" Kisame asked, sounding just as disappointed.

"I'm going to Hidden Leaf. It's a private school I think."

Kisame didn't know the difference between a 'private school' and a regular one, but that didn't change or affect the knowledge that Itachi wouldn't be in the same school as him. It just wasn't fair.

"I'll pull a few strings, call in a few Vaders," Itachi said business-like, repeating what his dad usually said in a tight spot, even if he did confuse a Star Wars character for the word 'favors'. "I'll take care of it...but I need to know something first."

"What?"

"Uhm, nevermind. I'll ask you when I see you at school. It'll happen, I promise."

Kisame nodded but realized that Itachi couldn't see it, so settled for an, "okay," instead.

After they said their goodbyes, Itachi stared at the phone, then went to the door quietly and opened it, handing the phone to his mom whom of which he knew would be eavesdropping.

"Uh, Itachi, Dear, who was that?"

"My friend."

"And who would that be...?"

"You know, Mom, Dad should do his own questioning, he shouldn't have to send you in."

"Itachi..." she said in warning, but the warning was faint because it was, for theost part, true. "You know I care about you just as much as your father, what makes you think I don't wanna' know who you're talking to? You're only five."

"I know. But I also know Dad would ask you to do this, it's unlike you, Mom."

"You know I love you," but it sounded like she was trying to convince Itachi just as much as herself.

"I know." Itachi's voice was toneless and clipped, a kind of roundabout coldness seeping from his words.

"You know I do..." his mom repeated, her face pleading.

"I know."

* * *

Kisame was happy, overjoyed really. He was turning five, just on the cusp of the deadline to be old enough to start school, and already he felt like a man. When Shizune tucked his shirt into his pants he didn't complain for a whole two hours. Because he was a man. And men had resilience.

Tobi and Zetsu's birthdays had already come and gone and the fraternal twins were now five. And now was his turn, and when school time finally did come around, Kisame would see Itachi, his friend, too.

Shizune phone rang and she got it, already knowing who it was without looking. "Takeshi?"

"Hey, is he ready? I'll be there to pick him up in fifteen."

"Yeah. Are you sure? I mean I wouldn't mind him having his birthday over here, besides I'm sure Zetsu and Tobi would be happy to spend more time with him."

"I don't want to be a burdon."

"Nonsense Takeshi, the boy's have been getting into all sorts of trouble and having a lot of fun along the way."

"Has Kisame been acting up? I know he can-"

"No he's been great!" Shizune decided to pretend that both escape attempts - at the grocery store and at the department store, never happened; or at least to Takeshi they never happened. She wasn't going to tell her brother about it, any way she looked at it, nothing good would come of doing so.

But regardless her brother didn't seem convinced. "That doesn't sound like Kisame. He's usually a handful."

"He's really a good kid though."

"Yeah...anyways, thank you for taking care of him these past two weeks, I really owe you one."

Shizune sighed. "You don't owe me anything. Besides, the boys had fun, that's all that matters really."

"Yeah."

"Are you sure you're up for taking him back?"

"School starts in a week for him, and I can't keep depending on you to take care of him and get him to school, you've already got your hands full with the twins, besides, Kisame is my responsibility and he is my son."

There were so many thing Shizune wanted to say to that. First of all being that Kisame, his son, shouldn't be counted upon as a 'responsibility'. Work, bills, chores...those kinds of things were responsibilities. Taking care of your child was a responsibility. But referring to your child AS a responsibility made it sound like Kisame was a liability. "Are you sure...?" was all that came out instead.

"Yes. I'm up the street. See you in a few." And with that he hung up, the dial tone ringing loudly in Shizune's ears.

Shizune pulled herself together enough to smile and go find Kisame. When shhe found him he was comfortably sprawled out on Tobi's bed with Zetsu and Tobi leaning over him while he played some sort of ninja fighting game on the PSP vita. "Kisame, your dad's going to be here to pick you up soon, okay?"

"Awhh," both twins cried out in unison.

"But I don't want Kisame to go," Tobi whined.

"Me either," Zetsu agreed.

"Yeah..." Kisame said, remembering the broken state he last saw his dad in. He did want to go back.

"No complaints, let's just make the most of this." She handed two large gifts to Kisame. "Okay?"

"Okay!" Kisame shouted, his mood suddenly brightened.

Tobi perked up when he saw the bright metallic shine of the red wrapping paper. "I pick-ted out that one! So Tobi's a good boy!" Shizune sighed when her son referred to himself in the third person. She had been trying to kick that habit desperately.

And Zetsu smiled widely and jumped up from where he had been seated when he saw the large metallic green wrapped present. "I picked that one, right Mommy?" Without waiting for her responce he continued, "open it! Open mine first!"

"No!" Tobi shouted disdainfully, "open mine's first!"

"Boys, calm down," Shizune patted their heads lightly in a loving way, "he'll open them both when he gets home, okay? Does that sound fair?"

Neither Zetsu nor Tobi responded for a minute until they both nodded, at the same time to boot; it was camcorder-worthy. Shizune let a sigh of relief escape her throat. She was glad to have avoided the repeat experience of the "it's not fair" (back and forth) argument between the twins. It had happened at the store when picking out presents and it had happened at the counter when the man responsible for gift wrapping said presents had declared that they were "all-out" of the wrapping paper Tobi wanted, even though they had plenty of the one Zetsu had picked. And after nearly fifteen minutes of Tobi's whining and the man's growingly impatient "I can't do anything about it"s, Shizune had convinced them both to get the shiny metallic wrapping paper, which was in full stock, and just so happened to have their favorite colors as well.

Shizune's cell rang and she picked it up. "Hey," she started already knowing wgo it was without looking at the name posted above the number on her phone.

"Hey, I'm coming up the stairs now. Is he ready to hit the road?"

"Oh, yeah," Shizune said distractedly as she put the blue and white coat back on Kisame (for the fourth time - he really didn't want it on) and ushered him to the door. When she got there, with Kisame in tow, Zetsu and Tobi followed after and Obito was already standing there at the door, exchanging familiarities and greetings with Kisame's dad.

Shizune dropped her phone, a resounding crash sounding through the room as the phone came apart in three - the actual phone itself skidding a short way across the floor, the rectangular cell phone battery popping out and landing near her foot, and the backing to her phone landing relatively close to being perfectly in between the other two parts. But Shizune didn't lean down to pick it up. She continued to stare into the eyes of her brother, cheeks looking sunken, dark under-eyes, face unhealthily pale - even his piercing golden eyes, a feature that Kisame had inherited, looked dull.

"Mommy, you drop-ted your phone," Tobi said, presenting her with the back case and nothing else.

It was enough to snap her out of her thoughts and back to reality. "Thank you Sweetie," she said, accepting the backing.

"Herw's the rest Mommy," Zetsu added, holding up the other two parts. She accepted it with a small nod of thanks but mere set the disconnected phone on the kitchen counter, not bothering to put it back together.

"Boys, go say 'bye' to your cousin, okay?" She didn't even have to wait for a responce, because just like that the two were off, hugging Kisame and giving promises to play Hero and Bad Guy soon enough.

Takeshi came over having greeted everyone except his sister, and hugged her but before he pulled away she whispered, "take good care of him," it wasn't a friendly gesture either. It sounded like a warning. He nodded and pulled away from her before waving 'bye' to the two little twins who were saying "bye Uncle Takeshi".

After Kisame's car seat had been situated back into Takeshi's car, the little guy was buckled in and they took off, presents in tow.

"Daddy?"

"Hm?"

"Aren't I old enough to sit in the front now? I'm five."

"I know how old you are, Son. No. It's a safety hazard."

"What's that?" Kisame asked, making a face.

"No moree questions, okay? Just let me drive us home safely."

"But I only ask-ted one thing Daddy," Kisame whined.

In response Takeshi turned on the stereo, which already had a nursery rhyme CD in it.

Kisame turned his head angrily, or about as angrily as a five year old could manage and covered his ears, muttering something about him being too old to listen to 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'.

And the rest of the ride home was like that, Kisame stewing over how mad he was and his father not saying a word. When the car pulled into their driveway and Takeshi went to unbuckle Kisame, no words were passed until Kisame let out a hateful, "I hate you," when they got into the house.

Kisame was holed up in his room, having locked his door, domething he never, not even once, did and not listening to what his father was saying.

"Kisame, listen Little Guy, I know you're mad but you can't lock me out. You need to eat dinner so I can call your babysitter. I have work late tonight."

"'Kay," Kisame mumbled, begrudgingly unlocking the door. He didn't know what to complain about first; the fact that he didn't have a birthday cake, the fact that his father had not officially acknowledged his one year age gain, or the fact that his dad, whom he hadn't seen going on nearly three weeks, was going to work instead of spending time with him. It was all just so unfair. But he did like his "babysitter" even if it wasn't really as official as all that, much more on the casual side to be honest. His off-and-on babysitter was just his neighbor - his dad would switch between hiring a babysitter, taking him to daycare, leaving him in the care of the neighbors, whom he knew very well, and watching him himself when he wasn't busy with work. Work. Kisame hated that word. It always meant that his dad would be away doing things that didn't involve him and taking up Kisame's precious question time on other means. The value of money had barely set in though for the newly turned five year old, so working as a means of getting by just didn't make any sense.

Dinner went by in a blur and Kisame barely registered the food he was eating as he scarfed it down, much more concerned with finishing quickly so he could open both his presents before his dad declared if was time to go. He ripped off the wrapping paper, foregoing the sense of awe for efficiency. Tobi had given him a set of four waterguns and Zetsu's gift was a remote controlled model car that looked to be a silver lamborghini. Besides it being remote controlled and looking cool, all else it had were open-able doors that had enough space inside to put mini action figures or whatever other object on the smaller side that wanted to travel in (plastic) style.

"Cool waterguns," Takeshi said to his son, forcing some of the enthusiasm; but they were pretty cool if he was being completely honest.

"Thanks," Kisame replied, taking them each and nonchalantly dropping them onto his bed. He then pulled his pillow off his bed and went over to the corner of his room where a neatly folded stack of extra sheets and blankets lie, and took the small cow print fur blanket. With both items in hand Kisame looked up expectantly at his dad who easily picked him up and locked the front door behind them as they went over to the neighbor's house.

"Hey," the woman, Hidan's mom, said excitedly, almost as if she was surprised, "we've been waiting for you Kisame. Hidan's in his room," the pale haired albino woman opened the door wider for Kisame to step in and he did. "He just got outta' time-out so he's probably cranky."

Kisame's dad went on to joke about how kids could be a handful at times, but after listening that far, Kisame gave up eavesdropping; smalltalk never interested him much, besides that he didn't much understand grown-up talk - aside from how tedious and boring it was. He made his way to Hidan's room up the stairs and down the hall to the second left. He had it memorized. Well, almost. He occasionally did end up mistaking the closet for his destination. When he turned the handle the knob yielded, letting him in.

"Hey," he started out awkwardly, hating how little he actually knew about his supposed "friend".

Hidan seemed to be glaribg daggers at the wall but turned to give a rushed, "hey," in return before going back to his task at hand - glaring at the wall.

"You okay?" Kisame shuffled his feet around for a moment before looking at Hidan who was staring at him as if he were the seventh wonder of the world.

"Do I look - ...yeah, I'm fine," Hidan decided to say instead.

"So I hear we're goin' to the same school," Kisame started.

"I guess so."

"Wanna' play a game?"

"Mm...not really."

"Wanna watch TV then?"

"Not-uh."

"Uhm...a-are you...hungry?" Kisame metaphorically stumbled, running out of ideas.

"Kind of." But Hidan's short replies and no effort on his part was getting annoying, and fast too.

"Play outside?" Kisame offered.

"It's too dark out."

"It's only five," Kisame said, glancing at the digital clock on Hidan's nightstand.

"Yeah. And the sun is setting, which means it's getting darker." Hidan said all this with a tone that rudely shouted 'duh'.

But Kisame didn't give up, at least not yet. "Well then you tell me what we should do 'cause you're too good for everything I said!"

"How about nothing? Leave me alone Shark-for-brains."

Kisame fumed; if it were at all possible steam would've been coming out of his ears. He glanced down at his shark pajamas - his favorite creature of the deep, and huffed. Fine. Now he gave up. "I hate you!" he shouted, not slamming the door closed on his way out only because Hidan's mom was in the kitchen and the bare hallway echoed like nobody's business. He knew that from experience.

So he decided to make the short venture down the hall to Kakuzu's, Hidan's older brother, room. He knocked first though, he didn't want to barge in and be fined a toll...again. It took him nearly ten allowences to pay off the last one.

Kakuzu opened the door, peering down at Kisame, the blue-haired boy whom he'd dubbed his brother's charge - or playmate if anyone wanted to be technical. "Yes...? Is dinner ready?"

"Um, no..."

Kakuzu waited for the boy who was two years his junior to say something else. But he didn't. "So...?" still nothing, just nervous shuffling, "what brings you here to my door?"

"Uhm, Hidan doesn't want to play and-"

"Ah yeah, he cussed in front of mom. He's probably still pouting that she got mad. How else was she supposed to react? Not happily, that's for sure."

Kisame merely nodded, not really keeping up with the flow of the conversation. He thought that 'smartness' would just come to him with his rise in age, but he still wasn't fairing any better than he had a year ago with Kakuzu's fancy words. What was pouting anyways? It sounded like the 'pow' noise on the superhero cartoons.

"So I guess that means we're together then."

Kisame felt his face heat up as Kakuzu sighed, opening the door and stepping aside.

All the meanwhile Kisame's thoughts were elsewhere. Together? Like as in...mommy and daddy together?

"Are you coming in or not?"

Kisame wondered if he could have as many wives as he wanted, cause he had already almost promised Itachi he'd marry him. Now Kakuzu too? Well, he did have two arms...one for each of them to hug he supposed.

"Are you coming in or not?" Kakuzu asked, sounding increasingly agitated.

"I'm coming," Kisame smiled, hugging his future second wife. Kakuzu raised an eyebrow and hesitantly hugged the shorter blunet back.

"You should wear blue on the marry-age day."

"Huh? What...? And I think you mean marriage..."

"Like I say'd."

"Said..." Kakuzu interjected.

"I gots payment," Kisame said, luring Kakuzu away from his grammar. He pulled out a few Canadian dollars that he'd got from some or the other relative and handed it to the dark haired boy.

Kakuzu's eyes lit up like New Years Eve, carefully accepting the money. "This is perfect! Did you know that this money here converts into so much yen? The exchange rates are high these days. I looked it up on the internet."

"Uh, yeah..." What on earth was an 'exchange rate'? It probably had something to do with money. The emerald-eyed boy knew a lot of money related things.

"So, what do you wanna' do first? Uhm, jump on the bed or-"

"How about watch you count money?"

"Are you sure...?"

"Mhm." Kisame remembered the hushed conversation he had eavesdropped in on with his dad and what his dad called a 'coworker' joking about how to 'please your lady friend', whatever that meant. He just got the gist of it - do what the person likes most with them and they will give you presents. Well his dad's coworker had said they 'please you in return later on' with rising eyebrows, but Kisame was far too young to catch the innuendo in those words.

Instead Kisame watched as Kakuzu went to a black and silver safe that was designed for kids (if the 'made in China' logo at the bottom wasn't already a dead giveaway). It had an authentic keypad and was locked pretty tightly and even though the safe most probably could not withstand bullets it was built sturdily enough to house its purpose - Kakuzu's coveted money. Yen, pounds, US dollars, Middle Eastern coins - too many to name, and was that Monopoly money? It sure looked like it. That was where that went...

"Here's all my yen," Kakuzu said, piling it all up neatly. Then he went on to count the rest of his money, loving converting all the foreign currencies to Japanese yen. "Oh and here ¥500 from that time-" Kisame stopped listening and started observing that light happiness in Kakuzu's face as he lovingly counted - and recounted, all his money before sticking it back in his safe, now in great mood, looking at everything in a positive light.

"Dinner's ready," Kakuzu's mom stated peeping her head in and was shocked to see Kisame up and about in her older son's room rather than in her younger's. Kisame did play with Kakuzu every once in awhile but it was usually short-lived.

"'Kay." Kakuzu motioned Kisame to follow but Kisame shook his head.

"I already ate," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Oh...well just wait in here. I'll try and hurry up as fast I can, okay?"

"'Kay." Kisame plopped himself down onto Kakauzu's large and surprisingly comfortable bed.

* * *

True to his word, the minute he was served he began downing his food like there was no tomorrow, and his mom had to caution him to slow down, lest he get some 'down the wrong tube', which he did and thoroughly regretted because the heavy-like pain in his throat took a bit to fade. And then he was thanking his mom for the meal, handing her his plate and rushing off while Hidan stared at him dumbfoundedly, pushing his food around with his chopsticks.

"Well your brother seems to be in a good mood at least."

"Hn." was all he responded with.

* * *

Kakuzu rushed up the stairs and down the hallway to his room, seeing Kisame still laying on his bed, the five year old drifting in and out of consciousness. And then he started to feel queazy, the food that he had quickly eaten, followed by the running up the stairs and - holy, he ran to the bathroom feeling some of it creep back up.

The noise, very distinct indeed, of throwing up had pushed Kisame out of his half sleep to see if his seven year old future second 'wife' was okay. He ended up rubbing his back soothingly like how his mom did on the rare occasion she had been let out of the hospital and he had found himself in the very same position - ungracefully hunched over a toilet and vomiting (that is to say if he had made it to the toilet in time; there were a few unfortunate events).

When he had stopped throwing up, his body still trying to continue as he dry heaved over the toilet, Kisame ran down the stairs, getting a cup of water and ran back up and set the cup on the bathroom counter, continuing to rub Kakuzu's back. When the dark haired boy was done and had flushed the toilet Kisame handed him a napkin to wipe his mouth first and foremost and the water to rinse out his mouth. After doing both Kakuzu brushed his teeth because the water hadn't been enough to get rid of the lingering foul taste.

"Thanks," he gratefully offered for Kisame's help.

"No problem, that's what a future husband do's, right?" It was a rhetorical question, and one he meant to keep inside of his head, at that.

"I think you mean 'does' Kisame...and what are you even talking about anyways?"

"N-nothing. I uh, yeah, I meant does..." Kisame added to distract Kakuzu from the the question.

"Oh, okay." that was surprisingly easy. "I'll get it out of you one day," Kakuzu said with a smirk. Or not.

Shortly afterwards Kakuzu and Hidan's mom poked her head in with an announcement of "it's bedtime!" and both Kisame and Kakuzu acknowledged that and shuffled into the single bed in the room. After she had left and a good ten minutes had passed, Kisame scooted closer and slung his arm over the taller boy, just like he'd seen on TV dramas that his dad would turn over whenever he caught him watching, fervently claiming he wasn't old enough to watch such things. But Kisame found ways around; he always had a way around. And he knew this was what grown-ups did at night, except there were noises in the TV show and the screen would fade to black. But that was okay, Kakuzu didn't have to make noises for him. He wasn't even good at this yet. He didn't even know where to put his hands - over his arm? His waist? His tummy?

He settled for putting his arm over his tummy but he knew he couldn't leave it there for long, he'd have to move it before morning or else Kakuzu would become pregnant and he'd probably start crying about how they weren't ready for a baby yet and he'd have to comfort him and tell him it'd all be okay, just like on the TV dramas. But that was okay, he'd leave the room before morning.

Kakuzu felt Kisame's arm across him but didn't say anything, figuring Kisame was a cuddler.

* * *

A/N:: For those of you who are worried, don't fret, I have no intention of including any shouta, just cute little confusions here and there and crushes that are more childish admiration than anything else. The (M) rating doesn't come into play until they are well into their high school, college, or after - years. For now think of it as K+ with a few minor T innuendoes, courtesy of Kisame, our (tiny) resident perv.


End file.
